Agreed that the Shostakovich is the pick of the orchestrations of Songs and Dances of Death.

I also wouldn't want to be without the song cycle Without Sun.

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"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business." -- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

karlhenning

Sunless is exquisite, too. Although for long I knew Musorgsky only from Pictures (and that, to be sure, in Ravel's orchestration), and though I still enjoy Pictures, it's these vocal cycles I return to most frequently.

At some point, I will need a recording of Boris. I saw it staged some three times while I was overseas.

One of my favorite Mussorgsky discs is this one with Abbado and Berlin, that includes a real rarity, St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain. While it bears some resemblance to the much more familiar Night on Bald Mountain, especially in the opening, this version uses a full chorus and later passages are substantially different. The rest of the CD has selected scenes from Khovanshchina, also very beautifully done.

--Bruce

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Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ~ Gustav Mahler

karlhenning

. . . a real rarity, St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain. While it bears some resemblance to the much more familiar Night on Bald Mountain, especially in the opening, this version uses a full chorus and later passages are substantially different.

Although, I suspect that the word in Russian is the same, and that the various translations (Bare/Bald) don't bear that textual difference between the scores (just a note), Bruce.

Wasn't the concert-piece an extract from the (unfinished, wasn't it?) opera Sorochintsy Fair? So (I am guessing) this rarity is 'more of a bleeding chunk'? :-)

A Night on Bald Mountain usually refers to one of two compositions – either a seldom performed early (1867) 'musical picture' by Modest Mussorgsky, St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain (Russian: Иванова ночь на лысой горе, Ivanova noch' na lïsoy gore), or a later (1886) and very popular 'fantasy for orchestra' by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain (Russian: Ночь на лысой горе, Noch' na lïsoy gore), based almost entirely on Mussorgsky's themes.

Nikolay Rimsky-KorsakovInspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky made a witches' sabbath the theme of the original tone poem, completed on June 23rd, 1867 (St. John's Eve). St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov's 'musical picture' Sadko (also composed in 1867) share the distinction of being the first tone poems by Russian composers.

As with so much of Mussorgsky's music, the work had a tortuous compositional history and was arranged after his death in 1881 by his friend and fellow member of the Mighty Handful Rimsky-Korsakov. It was never performed in any form during Mussorgsky's lifetime. The Rimsky-Korsakov edition premiered in 1886, and has become a concert favorite.

Note on the title: The Russian word «лысая» (lïsaya) literally means "bald", but is used in this case figuratively for a mountain supposedly barren of trees. Therefore, most experts officially title the piece A Night on the Bare Mountain, even if they commonly refer to it as Night on Bald Mountain.

Outside Russia several of Glinka's orchestral works have been fairly popular in concerts and recordings. Besides the well-known overtures to the operas (especially the brilliantly energetic overture to Ruslan), his major orchestral works include the symphonic poem Kamarinskaya (1848), based on Russian folk tunes, and two Spanish works, A Night in Madrid (1848, 1851) and Jota Aragonesa (1845).

Outside Russia several of Glinka's orchestral works have been fairly popular in concerts and recordings. Besides the well-known overtures to the operas (especially the brilliantly energetic overture to Ruslan), his major orchestral works include the symphonic poem Kamarinskaya (1848), based on Russian folk tunes, and two Spanish works, A Night in Madrid (1848, 1851) and Jota Aragonesa (1845).

Heather Harrison

Mussorgsky is largely responsible for getting me interested in classical music. (J.S. Bach is the other culprit.) When I was a child, I was fascinated by Night on Bare Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition. I had the following LP:

On this recording, Night on Bare Mountain is arranged by Rene Leibowitz, and Pictures at an Exhibition is the Ravel orchestration. The record eventually got destroyed (children are hard on such things), but I recently found a good copy of it. I still need to copy it to CD.

After all these years, I still enjoy these pieces, and I have collected many recordings of them.

Mussorgsky is largely responsible for getting me interested in classical music. (J.S. Bach is the other culprit.) When I was a child, I was fascinated by Night on Bare Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition. I had the following LP:

On this recording, Night on Bare Mountain is arranged by Rene Leibowitz, and Pictures at an Exhibition is the Ravel orchestration. The record eventually got destroyed (children are hard on such things), but I recently found a good copy of it. I still need to copy it to CD.

After all these years, I still enjoy these pieces, and I have collected many recordings of them.

Heather

You copy your lp's to disc? If so what kind of equipment are you using. Does it take a considerable amount of time? Burning from disc to disc takes very little time. I have been contemplating this for quite awhile...It just seems like a huge task.....